Nick McLarty’s first year in America didn’t go as planned.
When the 6-foot-7 Australian with a leg more powerful than a crocodile’s bite came to Ohio State, the expectation was that he’d start as a freshman. Ryan Day named him the team’s top punter before the Buckeyes’ Week 1 game against Akron.
But consistency issues and the culture shock of the college game kept McLarty on the bench for all but two of Ohio State’s 49 punts in 2024. Walk-on and fellow Aussie Joe McGuire won the starting punter job and booted the other 47.
McLarty could have been discouraged, embittered.